May 21, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1427

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RAHIM YAR KHAN, May 20: The killing of two youngmen by the Sadiqabad police in a ‘staged encounter’ on Thursday has been widely condemned by different sections of society.

A complete strike was observed in Sadiqabad, a busy commercial centre in southern Punjab, on Saturday to mourn and condemn the killings.

While DPO Rahim Yar Khan Syed Ahsan Mehboob has formed a four-member probe committee, there have been increasing calls for a judicial probe.

Reports said Rana Shehzed Tipu and Naveed Anjum were coming to Sadiqabad from Iqbalabad in their car along with friends Rana Asif and Sabir. At a toll plaza near the town, their car was intercepted by ASP Pir Muhammad Shah’s vehicle. Naseer Ahmed, ASP’s guard, took a seat in tipu’s car and asked him to move to the Ahmedpur Lama police station.

On way to Ahmedpur Lama, the car was stopped near a kiln where Tipu and Anjum were killed by policemen on board the ASP’s vehicle. The other occupants were taken into custody by police.

When the bodies were brought to the Sheikh Zayed Hospital here for autopsy, enraged relatives and friends destroyed a police vehicle .

According to Tipu’s father Rana Talib Hussain, his elder son, Ghazi Baba, died during the Kashmir ‘jihad’ a couple of years ago.

After his death, his wife, a Kashmiri by origin, and daughter came to Sadiqabad. But sometime ago the woman returned to Kashmir and then got her daughter by force through local activists of a militant group.

He said Tipu, also a member of the same militant group, left the outfit after the ‘snatching’ of his niece and had been at loggerheads with its activists over the issue.

Talib Hussain said he received an anonymous phone call on Wednesday, asking him to reign in Tipu or face consequences. “The next day he was killed by police.” .

According to another relative of Tippu, the police had carried out the killings at the behest of the leader of a militant group.

Meanwhile, the committee formed by the DPO met eye witnesses in custody, Rana Asif and Sabir, who reportedly said that ASP Pir Muhammad Shah and his police party had killed Tipu and Anjum.

Local MMA leaders Rahim Dr Anwaarul Haq, Maulana Rasheed Ludhianvi and Dr Raiz Ahmad also demanded judicial inquiry.

Terming the encounter genuine, a Sadiqabad police spokesman said Tipu and Anjum were wanted in kidnap, ransom and murder cases. The record of their activities would soon be made public, he said. Rejecting the police claim, relatives said there had been no case against the two in the past.